Edible olives are available in a wide array of styles and packing. Some of this diversity comes from the inherent properties of the many known olive cultivars, but treatment and processing of the olives generates an even broader range of organoleptic properties, affecting color, texture, odor, taste and appearance. Other qualities, such as packaging convenience, shelf life and nutritional value also impact the appeal of any given olive preparation.
The olive tree, Olea europaea, produces the olive fruit, a drupe of approximately 1.0-2.5 centimeters. The drupe has a firm flesh (also termed the meat of the olive), covered by a thin skin, with a hardened pit in the center. Multiple subspecies are recognized, and centuries of cultivation have resulted in hundreds of cultivars. As used in the art, the terms “variety” or “varietal” are often used interchangeably with the term “cultivar” to describe the plethora of known olive lineages. More accurately, the term “varietal” refers to naturally occurring, true-breeding plant lineages, and the term “cultivar” refers to a plant lineage that has arisen by some type of human intervention, such as by selective breeding or other artificial plant manipulations. As used herein, the term “cultivar” is used to describe any and all known olive cultivars, varieties, varietals, strains, hybrids, species or subspecies. Some examples of commercially significant cultivars are provided in FIG. 11. Some of the cultivar labels in FIG. 11 are synonymous, or are highly related geographic variants of the same varietal or cultivar.
The natural color of an olive varies widely among the different cultivars. Some olive cultivars are green when immature, and darken to a burgundy or black while ripening on the tree (termed “natural black” olives). However, a black olive color does always correlate with degree of natural ripeness. Some cultivars remain green during all stages of growth and never acquire a dark color. Some cultivars are allowed to ripen and obtain a dark color on the tree, while other cultivars are intentionally picked in an unripe state. Additionally, the color of the olive in the consumer market does not correlate with natural ripeness; in the US market, black olives account for the majority of sales, and these olives are black as a result of olive processing, not natural ripeness. Olives that acquire a black color from post-harvest oxidative processing are commonly termed “black ripe” olives.
When freshly picked from the tree, olives often have an intrinsic bitter flavor due to the presence of the polyphenolic compound oleuropein. To remove or alleviate this bitterness, olives are typically “cured” using one or a combination of methods. These include the traditional de-bittering methods of lye curing, water curing, brine curing, or fermentation. In addition to these traditional methods, other methods are also known.
Water-curing of olives involves submersion of the olives in fresh water for an extended period of time, which can be several weeks, several months, or longer. Water-curing is not as effective as the other traditional methods in removing the bitter taste, and water cured olives typically remain slightly bitter. Brine-curing involves the soaking of olives in a highly concentrated salt solution, typically but not exclusively sodium chloride. Brining of olives, similar to brining other types of fruits or vegetables, can be used to bring about certain desired properties in a food, and also has the effect of acting as a preservative. However, brine curing is sometimes only partially effective at debittering the olive flesh, and can be accompanied by some undesired effects, such as changing the flavor and phytonutrient composition of the olive and excessive softening of the olive flesh. Further, brine curing methods can take many months, and can also be incompatible with the use of some types of flavorings, seasonings and other types of foods that might be co-packaged with the olives. Another limitation of a brine-based debittering method is that the process generates large volumes of liquid brine waste, which can be toxic if left untreated, adding to the cost and complexity of production. The term “olive pickling” is sometimes used synonymously with olive brining. As with most olive production methods, the finished olives are packaged in a brine solution for final shipping and consumption.
Olive fermentation, by itself, is also considered a curing process. Fermentation is the biological process whereby the endogenous sugars found in a fruit are metabolized by microorganisms to produce acidic products. Fermentation of olives produces lactic acid or acetic acid, and this fermentation changes the organoleptic properties of the olive, which, in some types of processing, adds a distinctive and desired flavor to the olive. Olive fermentation is thought to have a secondary effect of freeing oleuropein molecules from the olive flesh and allowing them to diffuse into the surrounding liquid. Olive fermentation can be used by itself, or in conjunction with other curing methods, such as brine curing or lye curing. Olive fermentation generally leaves the olive flesh at an acidic pH, typically below approximately pH 4.2.
Lye-curing is the predominant method for olive curing. This treatment involves the submersion of the olives in a strong alkali solution, comprising either sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH). The strong alkali hydrolyzes and chemically neutralizes the oleuropein content, thereby removing the bitter taste. Lye-curing usually occurs in a series of sequential steps, or “cuts,” where a first lye bath will cure the skin and outermost portion of the olive, followed by draining and exposure to a second and subsequent lye soakings that allow alkali penetration successively deeper into the olive flesh, which may eventually reach the olive pit.
The lye-curing can have an added effect of darkening the olive, where during the last stage of lye-curing and or washing, oxygen gas, or simply air, is bubbled up through the lye solution, resulting in an oxidation of the alkaline olive flesh, thereby producing a deep black color. Fine tuning of the lye-treatment and blackening steps allows experienced olive producers to create olives that have desired properties with regard to the depth of alkali penetration, color tones and mottling that appears in the flesh and skins of the treated fruit. In the United States, canned California black-ripe olives are typically lye-cured and oxygen-darkened.
A wide variety of edible olive styles are produced using various combinations of curing methods and other treatment steps and by using various olive cultivars/varietals. There are also regional variations in all of these methods. However, there are approximately four standard processing technologies responsible for the majority of the olive market in the United States. These are California-style black-ripe olives, green-ripe olives (also termed California-style green), Spanish-style green olives (i.e., fermented olives) and Greek style natural black olives.
California style black olives, also known as “black-ripe” olives, are harvested from the tree green before fully ripening. This olive style entails using a lye treatment to debitter the olive, a wash step, exposing the olive to air and optionally other agents such as ferrous gluconate to turn and fix the olive flesh black, then brining the olive. See FIG. 1. Following the olive treatment, California black-ripe olives are typically canned in a neutral (pH 6.5-7.5) brine and then heat treated. California black-ripe olives can be sold either pitted or unpitted.
Non-fermented green olives, also termed “green-ripe,” California-style,” “American style” or “Picholine style” olives, are also harvested green before they are fully ripe. They are subjected to lye curing similar to the black-ripe olives, washed, then kept submerged (typically a neutral brine) and/or in sealed containers to minimize oxidative blackening from exposure to the oxygen in ambient air, and then packaged in a neutral brine followed by heat treating. See FIG. 2. The skin and flesh of the green-ripe olives retain their green color. In the United States, this production style creates green olives that are typically sold pitted and unstuffed.
Spanish-style (also known as Sevillian-style) green olives follow a different production method. They are harvested green, and then are partially treated with lye to debitter or partially debitter the olive. This lye treatment is often an intentional under-treatment, where the lye is not allowed to completely penetrate the full depth of the olive flesh. After the lye cut, the olives are placed in sealed vessels and allowed to undergo a natural fermentation process. This fermentation can be initiated by the native microbial flora on the olive surface, or in the case of large scale processing facilities, can be more tightly controlled by the addition of cultured laboratory strains of particular bacteria and/or yeast. The fermentation converts the sugars contained in the olive into acidic respiratory byproducts, turning the olive flesh acidic, typically in the range of pH 2.8 to pH 4.2. The fermentation reactions may or may not include the addition of extra sugars to the culture mix. The fermentation process also gives the olive flesh unique organoleptic properties that are distinct from other production methods. These olives may intentionally retain a distinctive slightly bitter taste. Spanish style green olives are typically packaged in an acidic brine and are the olive style that is commonly stuffed with red pimento in the United States.
Greek style natural black ripe olives, also termed simply “natural black” olives, are distinct from California style black-ripe olives. The expression “natural black” is a heterogeneous category that encompasses a number of olive processing methods, but all of the olives generally share the feature of having been tree-ripened and harvested in a natural black state. These olives can be subjected to a wide range of treatments, including brining/pickling in salt brines or vinegar brines, fermentation, and salt packing.
The industry provides guidance and sets standards by providing definitions and classifying different olive styles and olive production methods. See “TRADE STANDARD APPLYING TO TABLE OLIVES” from the International Olive Oil Council, Publication COI/OT/NC No. 1, Resolution No. RES-2/91-IV/04 (December 2004). See also “PROPOSED DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR TABLE OLIVES” Codex Alimentarius Commission, prepared by the Joint Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), Doc. No. CX/PVF 12/26/3 (July 2012). For further descriptions of olive processing methods, see “Processing California Olives” by Luh, Ferguson, Kader and Barrett in Olive Production Manual, Sibbett and Ferguson (eds.), University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 3353 (2004); pgs. 145-155.
In some cases, the processing methods used to cure the olives take on a strong geographic identity. For example, in the Castelvetrano region in western Sicily, local processing of the olive crop uses predominantly the “Castelvetrano method” for curing/debittering. Using this method, the fruit is treated in lye (caustic soda) for a period of up to 12 hours, and then continually washed in fresh water to remove the lye and produces an olive having neutral pH flesh. After removal of the lye, the olive is typically canned in a neutral pH liquid brine. This process produces a natural, intense green color, a firm, crisp flesh and sweet flavor. Alternatively, when these olives are packaged in an acidic brine, they retain their characteristic intense green color and crisp flesh, but the taste is tart from the acidic brine packaging. Various olive cultivars can be used to produce “Castelvetrano style” cured olives. For example, the Sicilian Nocellara del Belice cultivar and the Greek Halkidiki cultivar (also written Chalkidiki, Chalcidice or Chalkidike) are used to produce “Castelvetrano-style” table olives using the Castelvetrano curing method.
A single olive cultivar can be processed using multiple curing styles to produce multiple distinctive products. For example, the “Nocellara del Belice” cultivar can be processed using Castelvetrano-style curing (i.e., caustic soda bath), Sevigliana-curing (half-caustic soda treatment, half natural brine), “Naturale” curing (plain water and salt brine), and “Passuluna” curing style producing a riper, black, salted and partially dehydrated Nocellara olive.
In some contexts, the descriptive terms associated with a particular style of table olive does not reveal the olive varietal or cultivar used, for example, as various olive cultivars can be used to produce a particular style of olive, e.g., “Castelvetrano style” cured olives. This is made more complex by various synonyms that can be used to describe a particular cultivar, for example, where the cultivars Nocellara del Belice, Nebbia, Mazzara (Mazara), Olina Tunna and Oliva di Castel Vetrano e Nuciddara (or simply Nuciddara), may all in fact refer to the same olive cultivar. Variant spellings of these names can also complicate precise identification of any particular olive.
The manner in which processed olives are served has limitless variety. Olives can be eaten alone without any accompaniment, or served with other foods, or incorporated into recipes. Olives can be served whole unpitted or pitted. Alternatively, olive flesh can be cut into segments in any number of ways, or mashed to produce a paste or puree. Methods, devices, machinery and technology for mechanical olive processing, including pitting, slicing, halving, quartering, chopping, mashing, or forming pastes or purees are known in the industry.
The final step in many olive production methods is the packaging of the olives in a neutral or acidic packaging brine solution using cans or jars. Although packaging brine solutions have the beneficial effect of acting as a preservative for preventing spoilage and extending shelf life, in other respects, the brining solutions are problematic. Leaving the olives packaged in a brine solution makes them messy to eat, and the brine easily spills from a can or jar. When packaged in the liquid brine, they are not “snack friendly,” meaning that when one wants to snack on olives, one must first open a can or jar of olives, retrieve the olives from the packaging brine (or drain all of the brine from the can or jar), then serve the olives from a second container such as a plate, bowl or cup. Presently, the cans or jars typically used for olive packaging provide more than one serving of olives, meaning that if only one person is opening and intending to eat the olives, some portion from the can or jar will go to waste. If one tries to retrieve just a single serving of a few olives from the large can or jar, the presence of the brine solution often creates a mess or drips. This multistep serving process from cans or jars is inconvenient. Furthermore, the presence of the liquid brine prevents the inclusion of some other food products that might be co-packaged with the olives that could enhance the appeal of the olives, for example but not limited to, other fruits, vegetables, cheese, flavorings and seasonings.
Cured olives, either black or green, can contain various fillings, infused flavorings or other co-packaged food materials, as known in the art. Spanish style green olives are most commonly used to prepare stuffed olives, due in part to the fact that green olives generally have a firmer flesh than black ripe olives, and as a result, are more resilient to the physical stresses caused by machinery used in large-scale automated stuffing/filling. Furthermore, green olives are preferred for making stuffed olives because the acidic packaging brine used for Spanish-style green olives does not significantly degrade the color of the green olives, where in contrast, an acidic brine environment will fade the preferred deep black color of black-ripe olives to a less attractive brown. Spanish-style green olives are most commonly stuffed with red pimento, although garlic, celery and onion fillings are also common. In addition to being used as stuffings, materials such as garlic and onion can be co-packaged as accompaniments with the Spanish-style olives.
In the commercial setting, green olive stuffing can use actual vegetable pieces trimmed to a suitable shape and size for use in the stuffing process. However, this process is labor and cost intensive and not readily adaptable to large scale automation. Alternatively, the stuffing can comprise malleable segments of artificially formed food material. This material can be artificially colored and flavored, and is extruded or molded in some manner to form pliable (i.e., semi-rigid) sheets, ribbons or strips, which can be cut into suitable segments for insertion into the pitted olive. Flavored ribbons that mimic pimento are commonly used for olive stuffing. For example, see issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,006,256, 4,141,287 and 4,168,325, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Olive stuffing using trimmed ribbons or sheets has various drawbacks. First, these methods are often too physically harsh to use on the delicate flesh of a pitted olive. Second, the flavor choices for commercially-available ribbon fillings are limited.
Alternatively, paste-type fillings have been proposed for stuffing pitted olives. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,174, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Paste filling techniques such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,174 face various technical challenges. First, the consistency (e.g., hardness or softness) of the paste filling must be optimized because paste-type fillings will have a tendency to slip out of the pitted olive and can leak and smear, causing unsightly smearing on the surface of the olive and on the end stage packaging. Second, paste type fillings must be optimized for taste sensation, for example, to avoid a mushy or slimy sensation while being eaten. Third, the paste filling formulations such as those used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,174 are optimized for olive packaging in a liquid brine. If these paste-stuffed olives were packaged without brine, these existing formulations would be suboptimal because loss of moisture in a brineless environment would cause shrinkage of the stuffing and likely create a loss of adhesion and a tendency for the stuffing to dislodge and fall out of the pitted olive.
The choices for stuffings and infused flavorings in the commercial setting are limited. Olive fillings that use more diverse flavors and complex favor combinations would add to the appeal of stuffed olives. Furthermore, stuffings designed to complement the flavors of particular types of olives, such as black-ripe olives, and that can be adapted to take into account the softer flesh of some olive types such as black-ripe olives, would also make stuffed olive products more appealing. The marketplace would benefit from a wider variety of stuffing flavors, and more complex stuffings that utilize combinations of flavor ingredients.
The marketplace would benefit from olive packaging technology that results in olives that have improved consumer appeal with regard to portability, conveniently sized packaging (for example, snack-sized) that minimizes waste, lightweight, unbreakable or transparent packaging, ease of transport, packaging that is easily opened and/or resealable, packaged in a manner that eliminates the inconvenience of liquid brine packaging (for example, mess-free eating), long shelf life and have a wider assortment of stuffings and flavoring.
There is a need for olives, for example, low-acid olives, that could be put in convenient and appealing packaging that is free of liquid brine. Further, such olives could be more appealing if they contain infused flavorings and/or are pitted and stuffed with flavored stuffings. This product will also appeal to people who benefit from a low-acid diet, for example, to control gastric reflux disease. Low acid-olive products are also beneficial because acidic food products are often associated with unappealing strongly acidic or tart tastes. Further, methods for packaging low-acid would be most desirable if those methods preserve the organoleptic properties, desirable appearance and adequate shelf life of the olive products.
The present invention, in its many embodiments, overcome these challenges and provide many benefits to the marketplace. In addition, still further benefits flow from the invention described herein, as will be apparent upon reading the present disclosure.